Disaster Countermeasures and Early Recovery for Existing Railway Structures

Abstract

Huge earthquakes and localized heavy rain, which occur frequently in recent years in Japan, have damaged many types of social infrastructure, including railway structures. Damage to railway structures has in the past lead to disruption or suspension of train operations, sometimes up to several years, or relatively shorter periods, depending on the seriousness of the damage. This report addresses issues that arose from the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake and the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes, and the heavy rain which fell in northern Kyushu in July 2012 and the 2016 heavy rains due to Typhoons 7, 9, 10 and 11. The report summarizes the findings obtained from damage to railway structures caused by past earthquakes and rains. In addition, it details railway structure countermeasures for disasters on which Railway Technical Research Institute(RTRI) has been working and examples of recovery technically supported by RTRI. Finally, it describes future work on disaster prevention and mitigation technology and early recovery technology.